Flashback to 1977

One of my Christmas gifts this year was the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD.  I got the Limited Edition, which includes the versions Mr. Lucas ruined and the original theatrical releases.  Last night, I finally had the opportunity to watch the first one and was instantly transported back to 1977.  This is a movie, and a version of a movie, that I haven't seen in many, many years.  My face was suffused with a semi-permanent grin.

The disc is only encoded with two-channel stereo, there are color shifts throughout the film, the Darth vs. Obi Wan light saber battle has these mysterious yellow flashes throughout, and many of the flight effects during the Death Star battle are far from transparent but I remember.  I remember being a wide-eyed ten-year-old watching robots, and stormtroopers, and laser guns, and light sabers and... light speed!  I also remember the hick in the row behind us, near the end of the Death Star battle, loudly remarking in an Oklahoma drawl, "Oh no, R2 got shot," and I remember our whole family laughing about it.

As I watched, I took note of how three specific items were handled:

1) The opening crawl does not state that it is "Episode IV"
2) HAN SHOOTS FIRST!!!
3) During the chase on board the Death Star, there is no call of, "Close the blast doors! Close the blast doors!"  My wife and I both remember it so, unfortunately, this is not the original original theatrical release but based on one of the later, edited prints.  No matter, it's close enough.

It was quite interesting to watch both reminiscing with my inner ten-year-old and as I am now, having seen the rest of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.  There is a lot of foreshadowing and some interesting subtleties to the dialogue - some they worked into the backstory well, some they did not. (i.e. "Obi Wan? That's a name I haven't heard since before you were born.")  It's GREAT stuff... even 30 years later.